The Apostle John closes his first letter with a warning about idols. Surely that advice is obsolete now...right? The false gods that surround us today are much more subtle than the ones in the first century. If that's true, then we should pay all the more attention to these words of caution. And that's just one of several topics John will discuss as he ends his epistle. Today we're wrapping up the series God's Love Letter with Part 2 of Jim's sermon, We Know!

Listen to Right Start Radio every Monday through Friday on WCVX 1160AM (Cincinnati, OH) at 9:30am, WHKC 91.5FM (Columbus, OH) at 5:00pm, WRFD 880AM (Columbus, OH) at 9:00am. Right Start can also be heard on One Christian Radio 107.7FM & 87.6FM in New Plymouth, New Zealand.

Some people say we can't know our spiritual destiny. John says, "we know!" We know about the certainty of heaven, about holiness, about answered prayer; and we know all of this because we know one Person. We know "the true God and eternal life," Jesus. In our final sermon in the series God's Love Letter, Jim will look at 1 John, chapter 5. Here's the answer to the "know-nothings" and the "know-it-alls."

Listen to Right Start Radio every Monday through Friday on WCVX 1160AM (Cincinnati, OH) at 9:30am, WHKC 91.5FM (Columbus, OH) at 5:00pm, WRFD 880AM (Columbus, OH) at 9:00am. Right Start can also be heard on One Christian Radio 107.7FM & 87.6FM in New Plymouth, New Zealand.

When God tells us to believe in His Son, He doesn't ask us to do something irrational. He gives us evidence, from witnesses. If you've scratched your head about the "three witnesses" mentioned in 1 John, Pastor Jim will bring you some relief today. We're actually continuing a message we began yesterday called Benefits of Believers, answering such questions as, What must we believe? On what evidence? And finally, What confidence can we have, once we've chosen to trust the evidence? Here's Jim in 1 John, chapter 5.

Listen to Right Start Radio every Monday through Friday on WCVX 1160AM (Cincinnati, OH) at 9:30am, WHKC 91.5FM (Columbus, OH) at 5:00pm, WRFD 880AM (Columbus, OH) at 9:00am. Right Start can also be heard on One Christian Radio 107.7FM & 87.6FM in New Plymouth, New Zealand.

Billionaires don't play the lottery. If you have an inheritance too large to count, the weekly "super-mega- jackpot" probably doesn't interest you. And that's a good illustration of what the world offers, versus our true wealth in the Kingdom of God. This inheritance becomes ours when we're adopted into the heavenly family by faith - but faith in what? What must we believe? The Apostle lays it out for us in 1 John, chapter 5. Here's Jim with Part 1 of his sermon, Benefits of Believers.

Listen to Right Start Radio every Monday through Friday on WCVX 1160AM (Cincinnati, OH) at 9:30am, WHKC 91.5FM (Columbus, OH) at 5:00pm, WRFD 880AM (Columbus, OH) at 9:00am. Right Start can also be heard on One Christian Radio 107.7FM & 87.6FM in New Plymouth, New Zealand.

Jesus asked, "Why do you call me 'Lord, Lord,' but do not do what I say?" That's a fair question! We're not saved by keeping commandments. That's true. But we shouldn't conclude from that truth that the Ten Commandments, or any of God's moral requirements, are optional. His Law is a reflection of His unchangeable nature. Today we're looking at another of John's tests in 1 John, chapter 4. We left off yesterday thinking about verse 19, "We love because He first loved us."

Listen to Right Start Radio every Monday through Friday on WCVX 1160AM (Cincinnati, OH) at 9:30am, WHKC 91.5FM (Columbus, OH) at 5:00pm, WRFD 880AM (Columbus, OH) at 9:00am. Right Start can also be heard on One Christian Radio 107.7FM & 87.6FM in New Plymouth, New Zealand.

"Love me, love my kids" - says God. In John's first letter he gives his readers a litmus test: OK, you who say you love God; how do you feel about your spiritual siblings? If I in some way have a bit of the divine nature, and you've become a partaker of that nature, too, then we should resonate on the same inner frequency. Personalities aside, there should be a fraternal bond between us. This challenge takes our love out of the realm of theory, and into reality.

Listen to Right Start Radio every Monday through Friday on WCVX 1160AM (Cincinnati, OH) at 9:30am, WHKC 91.5FM (Columbus, OH) at 5:00pm, WRFD 880AM (Columbus, OH) at 9:00am. Right Start can also be heard on One Christian Radio 107.7FM & 87.6FM in New Plymouth, New Zealand.

The Apostle John is composing a symphony. Will we listen to the music? Paul builds arguments block by block like a stonemason. John, whom we've been reading, seems more like a composer. He presents a truth, then adds another and another until the first idea comes around again. He weaves together his themes so as to create a complete, unbreakable masterpiece. We were in 1 John 4 yesterday, hearing about The Nature of Divine Love. Today Jim winds up his thoughts on this passage.

Listen to Right Start Radio every Monday through Friday on WCVX 1160AM (Cincinnati, OH) at 9:30am, WHKC 91.5FM (Columbus, OH) at 5:00pm, WRFD 880AM (Columbus, OH) at 9:00am. Right Start can also be heard on One Christian Radio 107.7FM & 87.6FM in New Plymouth, New Zealand.

People can't see God...but we can see love. If God is love, as the Apostle John is teaching us, then a glimpse of authentic, self-sacrificing love should be very close to seeing the Almighty. And we do sometimes say, "I can see God in that person." It turns out we're not just making metaphors. Today we continue our series through 1 John with a new sermon called, The Nature of Divine Love. That sounds like a heady, theological topic, but Jim will bring it right down to where we live.

Listen to Right Start Radio every Monday through Friday on WCVX 1160AM (Cincinnati, OH) at 9:30am, WHKC 91.5FM (Columbus, OH) at 5:00pm, WRFD 880AM (Columbus, OH) at 9:00am. Right Start can also be heard on One Christian Radio 107.7FM & 87.6FM in New Plymouth, New Zealand.

We are loved beyond our capacity to understand how much we are loved. Most everyone in our culture has misdefined and misconceived love. Real love is much bigger than we knew - and much more tangible: It motivates actions. It makes judgments. And God's love is there for us to accept. We began this message on Friday, investigating the middle section of 1 John, chapter 3. The most powerful thing we know about love is that it was perfectly demonstrated at the Cross.

Listen to Right Start Radio every Monday through Friday on WCVX 1160AM (Cincinnati, OH) at 9:30am, WHKC 91.5FM (Columbus, OH) at 5:00pm, WRFD 880AM (Columbus, OH) at 9:00am. Right Start can also be heard on One Christian Radio 107.7FM & 87.6FM in New Plymouth, New Zealand.

We could define "love" as "laying down our lives." After all, that's how Jesus defined it. We might volunteer some money or some time to help someone else. But to surrender our privileges, and even our rights - that kind of love has to be supernatural. We don't see it that often. But we did see it at the Cross, so we have an example of it. We've been wending our way through the first letter of John, and today we'll get to the "heart" of the matter. Here's Jim to open a sermon on The Impact of Christian Love.

Listen to Right Start Radio every Monday through Friday on WCVX 1160AM (Cincinnati, OH) at 9:30am, WHKC 91.5FM (Columbus, OH) at 5:00pm, WRFD 880AM (Columbus, OH) at 9:00am. Right Start can also be heard on One Christian Radio 107.7FM & 87.6FM in New Plymouth, New Zealand.